News: Clark County (Outstanding Dairies 1983)

Contact: Kathleen E. Englebretson

Email: kathy@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Wuethrich, Haas, Raber

----Source: Marshfield News-Herald (14 July 1983)

OWEN-- Wisconsin is known world-wide as a leader in the dairy industry. Clark County, host for the 1983 Farm Progress Days next week, has helped Wisconsin gain this favorable reputation and will continue to play a major role in keeping that reputation.

Three dairy industries in the county stand out as leaders in their particular line of dairy products.

The John Wuethrich Creamery Co. Inc. in Greenwood and the Blue Moon Cheese and Wild Cherry Cheese companies in Thorp are unique among 28 of Clark's County's dairy processing plants.

The Wuethrich Creamery, now in its third generation of family management, is probably the largest independent butter manufacturer in Wisconsin

Grassland butter is the main product of the creamery. John Wuethrich, the company's Swiss founder, chose that name in 1904 because he appreciated the lush pastures and good hay in Clark County.

Since its birth, the 79-year-old creamery has increased production from 3,600 pounds of butter per day to 180,000 pounds per day. Second generation manager, John D. , attributes the growth to increased mechanization. His don and successor, Dallas, cited the fact that converting from a batch-churning operation to a continous-butter-making process has enabled Wuethrichs to triple their production in the last 10 years.

Grassland butter uses cream from more than 100 dairy plants in Wisconsin, Michigan and Minnesota. The finished product is sold coast-to-coast, in the Caribbean, on major airlines, and virtually, all over the world

Besides making Grassland butter, Wuethrich's creamery also manufactures and sells butter for 40 other private labels. The creamery also distributes a variety of cheeses.

Both John D and Dallas are optimistic for the future of the dairy industry. They point to better advertising and continued research and development of new dairy products as the key to a prosperous industry.

Another unique leader in the dairy processing business is the Blue Moon Cheese Co. The factory is one of 10 blue cheese manufacturers in North America. Blue Moon produces 25 percent of all the blue cheese made on the continent.

The origin of this blue cheese operation dates back to 1920. Over the years, building and management have survived many changes. Started as a creamery, the factory turned to the production of Gold n' Rich semi-soft brick cheese in the 1940s before concentrating solely on blue cheese in 1977. Blue Moon, a division of Foremost Dairies, is now the biggest blue cheese producer in North America.

Blue Moon makes almost 30,000 pounds of cheese every day. Moe than 80 percent of this cheese is crumbled and sold to salad dressing manufacturers while 15 percent goes out in bulk wheels.

A small percentage of production at Blue Moon is directed toward gorgonzola cheese, Gorgonzola, another blue-veined cheese, is different than blue cheese because it has two enzymes in its started instead of just one. These enzymes are added with cow's milk to imitate the natural flavors found in sheep's and goat's milk.

Named after its birth city in northern Italy, gorgonzola cheese has a more distinct flavor than blue cheese. It is cured at least 30 days longer than its blue-veined complement and is sold mainly to delicatessens and stores which feature exotic cheese.

Henry Haas, general manager of Blue Moon is positive about the future for blue cheese and gorgonzola markets. Haas said that the sales will rise along with economic recovery because people will have more money to spend on specialty products.

Wild Cherry Cheese Co. is also unique among Clark County cheese producers. Owners Urs and Madeline Raber have found their niche in the Swiss cheese market.

Urs Raber, a Swiss native, came to the United States because of the free enterprise system. He had always dreamed of having his own business and trying to make it on his own.

Raber bought Wild Cherry in 1981. Soon after, he converted the cheddar cheese facility into a profitable Swiss cheese production.

Raber believes that creating your own market is important for success. He introduced the Bay Swiss and the Baby Swiss Nugget to fill a need for "the family size" Swiss cheese. Milder and creamery than their 100-pound counterpart, these 5 and 1 pound Baby varieties lead to a fresh and more flavorful cheese. Because every Baby Swiss is produced, aged and sold in either its 5 or 1 pound parcel, cutting and re-wrapping are eliminated.

Every day, Wild Cherry produces 7,000 pounds and 10,000 pounds of Raber's original Swiss. The cheese is distributed throughout the United States and Puerto Rico.

Raber pays a quality premium to his milk producers. Since production is increased with higher quality milk, Raber thinks rewarding farmers for "clean" milk will become common practice in the future.

Presently, Raber is experimenting with new kinds of cheese. He is exploring fruit flavor, low sodium and low cholesterol possibilities. Raber, like the management at Wuethrich's Creamery, sees continued research and development as a major factor in the industry's future.

Wild Cherry Cheese and Blue Moon both produce specialty products while Wuethrich's is unique because of its volume of its production. All of the dairy processing plants utilize a lot of raw milk in creating their final product.